Congratulations on another successful year celebrating EveryBody Deserves a Massage Week (EBDMW). This year’s event (July 12–18) included first-time and longtime participants, all working toward sharing the power of touch. Here is a short recap of some of that work.

Amy Groner from Columbiana, Ohio, found great reward in her participation of EBDMW.
“For every one-hour massage that was booked, 15 minutes were donated to someone else. In the end, eight 30-minute massages were donated to some very special people who otherwise would not have had work done. My heart is happy.”

Darcy Neibaur, owner of Sweet Serenity Massage, raised $1,405.61 for the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She offered a massage respite at the World Massage Festival (as she’s done since 2011) and collected donations for her foot massage. Helping her were Dionne Adams, Sandy Dirks, and Renee Star. Her total donation to the charity, including toys, food, etc., exceeded $2,000. (See more of Darcy’s story on page 6.)

This was Richard Limon’s first year participating in EBDMW, and he’s already thinking about how to make next year’s event even better.
“Never before had I attempted to organize my own (EBDMW) event, but after reading the suggestions from the ABMP website, I reached out to a few organizations around the Palm Springs area to offer my services. One event I was able to organize was offering mini massages for employees of the local paper, The Desert Sun, where I set up a display and massage chair and massage table as options for receiving treatment. I spent about 3½ hours, saw 17 people, and collected almost $100 in donations. In addition, during massage week, I donated 30 percent of my massage sales toward the Palm Springs Animal Shelter. The total amount collected was over $400!”

Joy Campbell of Charlotte, North Carolina, donated all gratuities, and a portion of all massage session and gift certificate purchases made during EBDMW, to Rainbow’s END—Enabled Not Disabled, a nonprofit organization that nurtures strong self-esteem and positive self-image for individuals with disabilities through adaptive sports and activities.

Margaret Olin gave 15-minute chair massages at the Arms Library in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, and asked for donations in return to support the library’s many community programs.

Cynthia Hill-Meriwether of New Life Massage & Bodyworks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, spent a day giving massages to the staff and volunteers at Restore Hope Ministries.

Terry Lawvor Miller of Terry’s Therapeutic Massage in Nome, Alaska, celebrated EBDMW by making sure her community knew there were no excuses for not getting a massage. She called her event: “Pay What You Can, Pay the Fee, Pay More, Pay Less, or Pay Using Barter! Don’t Let Money Be an Excuse for Not Getting a Massage.” She scheduled 30-minute sessions throughout the week in hopes that those who needed massage the most would make their way to her door.